COLLEGE STATION — Since he burst on the scene at Texas A&M, Johnny Manziel has defied convention. The first freshman to win the Heisman Trophy, Manziel has built his reputation on being different, an exception in a world of conformity and hard rules.

He proved that again Thursday at the McFerrin Athletic Center, where 75 NFL personnel from 30 teams, including eight head coaches and eight general managers, watched Manziel complete 61 of 64 pass attempts at his personal pro day.

Events like this tend to be boring, routine affairs, with little or no pizzazz. But not this one. Manziel gave his spectators a unique experience, making the unusual decision to wear shoulder pads and a helmet along with a black jersey and camouflage shorts.

“I have never seen that before,” Texans general manager Rick Smith remarked.

A lot of people undoubtedly left A&M’s campus with the same reaction, especially after they witnessed a golf cart carrying President George H.W. Bush and his wife, Barbara, roll up the sideline as Manziel was almost halfway through the workout. The Bushes’ grand entrance perfectly captured the essence of a spectacle that lured media from many national outlets and was televised live by the NFL Network.

Instead, he kept firing, throwing all sorts of passes to six receivers running a variety of routes — fades, drags, slants, curls, crosses and patterns along the seams and to the flats. Mike Evans, his former college teammate and a projected first-round pick, was one of his targets. The lanky wideout factored into one of his three incompletions, bobbling a long pass along the sideline before catching it out of bounds. Of Manziel’s other two errant throws, only one was his fault. The other was dropped by former Texas A&M slot receiver Travis Labhart.

“I felt like it was good,” Manziel said of his performance. “I obviously was going for perfection.”

He didn’t achieve that lofty goal. But with music from rap artist and Manziel buddy Drake pumping through speakers in the background, he did answer some questions in a workout designed with NFL evaluators in mind. The extra gear Manziel donned was a major component of the show.

“You play the game in shoulder pads on Sundays,” Manziel said. “Why not come out here and do it?”

His private quarterbacks coach, George Whitfield Jr., who has trained Manziel in San Diego, concocted a script aimed at providing the most accurate representation of his skills after he didn’t throw at the NFL combine last month. It featured the former Aggies star working exclusively from under center after spending his two seasons at A&M taking shotgun snaps. Whitfield also made sure the orchestrated session included the types of difficult passes commonly delivered in the NFL. The idea of the workout was to dispel the notion Manziel can operate only within the parameters of an offense for so long before deviating from the plan and improvising.

“The thing that he has been challenged so much about and that people weren’t really willing to give him is that he can be a systematic player,” Whitfield said. “Every throw in that deal is part of NFL offenses and concepts so from the footwork, to the reads, to the eyes.”

On 28 of his 64 throws, some of which featured a play-action maneuver, drops of five or seven steps were incorporated. He also fired 49 times from the pocket. But as anyone who watches him would attest, Manziel seems to be best when he’s on the move. So it was no surprise that the prettiest throw — a 60-yard bomb dropped into the hands of Derel Walker — was made after he rolled out to the left.

“He gave us every throw we needed to see,” Bradley said. “I think that’s no different than how he’s performed all year, right? Perform under pressure. Felt like more of a pressurized environment with a lot of eyes watching him, and he did a great job.”

Among those standing along the sidelines were head coaches Mike Tomlin of the Steelers, Chip Kelly of the Eagles and Bill O’Brien of the Texans, who own the No. 1 overall pick. The Cowboys, who are a long shot to draft Manziel with the 16th choice and don’t have a visit or private workout scheduled with him, sent a team of three representatives that included quarterbacks coach Wade Wilson. Only Cleveland and Chicago didn’t dispatch anybody to College Station.

“If they wanted to be there, they had the opportunity to,” said Manziel, who accumulated 9,989 yards in total offense in his college career. “So I don’t think anything of it. I didn’t even know that was the case ... I don’t hold it against them.”

What Manziel said they missed was an event intended to prove he “didn’t have anything to hide.”

Not that he could. Manziel isn’t exactly the stealthy type. He’s famous, and most of all, different. It’s why he could handle a stage like this one and not wilt under the spotlight while everyone from NFL coaches to an ex-president watched him.

To post a comment, log into your chosen social network and then add your comment below. Your comments are subject to our Terms of Service and the privacy policy and terms of service of your social network. If you do not want to comment with a social network, please consider writing a letter to the editor.